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LOT 0293
Large Bronze Age Shield Boss
8TH CENTURY B.C.
10 1/2 in. (297 grams, 26.5 cm wide).
A hammered discoid shield raised from a single sheet, displaying a central conoid boss; two pairs of circular piercings to the perimeter. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceUK private collection before 2000.
Acquired on the UK art market.
Property of a London gentleman.
Cf. Overlaet, B., ‘The chronology of the Iron Age in the Pusht-I Kuh, Luristan’ in Iranica Antiqua, vol.XL, 2005, pl.13, no.14, for a recent find of a similar shield; see also Ayazi, S., Disc-Headed Bronze Pins from Luristan: A Symbol of Ancient Iran’s Past, Tübingen, 2008.
FootnotesThese kind of shields, of small dimensions, were used by infantry or horse-archers of Luristan and neighbouring cultures (Elamites, Zagros Tribesmen, like Hurrians, Lullubians, Kutians, and Kassites, Assyrians), as well as by Urartu, West-Iranian and Northern Caucasian civilisations around the Caspian Sea. The bronze boss was probably attached to a leather and wooden background.
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AUCTIONS:
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The lead-weighted darts known as plumbatae mamillatae (or 'breasted javelin') were short darts mounted upon a shaft of the same shape, and thrown from a short distance. A Roman soldier would typically carry around 5-6 of these darts at any one time, fastened to the back of his shield. They could be thrown overhand or underhand, with an effective throwing range of up to 60 metres by trained soldiers. -
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Comprising paddle-shaped arrowheads with a flat, comparatively wide mid-rib. 177 grams total, 57-80 mm
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Piriform-conical body with S-shaped ornaments to the shoulder, interstitial panels of impressed alternate foliage and S-shaped horizontal ornaments, domed filler-hole, intended to be filled with explosive liquid and wick, used as a hand grenade. 650 grams, 12.5 cm
From a military inspired collection formed from the 1990s. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
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